Shame, Tinubu Government Scaring Away Investors – Peter Obi

The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has accused President Bola Tinubu of scaring foreign direct investment away from the country through his administration’s programmes and policies.

According to Obi, the Tinubu-led government is incompetent, ineffective and corrupt.

Naija News reports that the NDC candidate made the allegation in a statement on Wednesday titled, ‘Scaring Investors While Celebrating Macroeconomic Stability.’

He said it is delusional for the government to celebrate the country’s macroeconomic stability amid warnings from the United States government about the risks of doing business in Nigeria.

He wrote: “As the APC-led government continue in their delusional celebration of Nigeria’s macroeconomic stability, the warning from the United States Government to prospective investors on inherent risks in Nigeria, further affirms the general and correct assessment that President Bola Tinubu-led government is incompetent, ineffective and corrupt.

“In the 2026 Nigeria Investment Climate Statement, the U.S. Department of State clearly flagged corruption, insecurity, inconsistent regulatory enforcement and weaknesses in the judicial system, cargo delays and power sector challenges as key factors undermining investor confidence in Nigeria. The report went further to caution investors of the possible use of arbitrary detention, travel restriction and immigration enforcement to coerce foreign businesses in Nigeria.

“As the report unambiguosly stated: “U.S. businesses are advised that standard business trips can escalate into detention if the firm is under regulatory suspicion or faces charges by Nigerian authorities. Nigeria has previously employed coercive exit bans and arbitrary detention as leverage in commercial or regulatory disputes, and to extract data or financial concessions from multinational firms. Port inefficiency remains a significant “hidden tax” on investment. While the Lekki Deep Seaport, which opened in 2023, significantly eased pressure in 2025 — handling $9.6 billion in trade and operating at 50 percent capacity — traditional ports in Apapa and Tin Can still suffer from cargo dwell times exceeding 20 days due to manual examinations.”

The former Governor of Anambra State insisted that the report should have prompted an investigative order from the President in order to correct the negative perception, but the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government has not been proactive, and are guilty of the allegations levelled by the United States government.

“In a nation with an effective, competent and attentive government, this kind of adverse report would have elicited immediate intervention by the President and Commander in Chief ordering prompt investigation, follow-up and effective action to ensure that our most endowed

“Nigeria is not perceived negatively by one of our key trading partners, friendly nations and expectedly the global economy. This is even more important given our desperation for Foreign Direct Investment.

“Unfortunately, our incompetent APC- led government cannot give what they don’t have as they are the real perpetrators of the issues raised by the U.S. Government,” Obi added.

The presidential candidate further lamented the volume of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Nigeria is attracting, saying it is low becase the current government is scaring away investors.

“This explains why Nigeria is unable to attract Foreign Direct Investment commensurate with our market size and potential. Of the $10.37 billion in total capital importation in the first quarter of 2026, only $135.08 million (about 1.3% of the total inflows) was Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), while about $9.86 billion (about 95.1% of the total inflows) went into Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) with loans and other capital streams accounting for the remaining.

“It is paradoxical that while the Tinubu administration is celebrating macroeconomic stability, it is unwittingly scaring away foreign investors. What a shame.

“A New and Productive Nigeria is POssible and Nigeria will be OK,” he concluded.